In recent years, in an image forming device for business or the like, a cutting position is sometimes printed as cut marks on a sheet, in addition to image information for image forming. Thus, shape arrangement with a sheet cutter after image forming becomes easier, improving the work efficiency.
Cut marks (cut information) are input to an image output device from a PC or the like together with image information in a state where the cut marks are incorporated into image information, and then the cut marks are recorded on a sheet (for example, see Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which one side or two sides of a sheet themselves are used as reference sides at the time of recording, under control by a controller of an image output device, so that the number of cutting times is reduced.
Further, for an image forming device that attaches marks showing a cutting position, a technology is disclosed that decides the position of disposing an image such that the number of times of cutting the sheet is minimized (for example, see Patent Document 2). By the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2, in an image forming device that has a function to dispose and output plural images in the same size on a single sheet, a central processing unit (CPU) decides the positions of disposing the respective images.
However, if one side or two sides themselves of a sheet are used as reference sides for recording, a problem is caused that the ends of a sheet stack are not so smooth as the ends formed by cutting, and further, it is sometimes not definite where the positions of cut ends with respect to an image will be at the time of processing the sheet stack after cutting. Particularly, when it is desired that the end which is not cut is disposed at the binding side to which a spine cover sheet is attached and that cut ends are desired to be at the outside which is visible, the positions of cut ends relative to an image is significant. In the technologies disclosed in Patent 1 or 2, there is no technical description about positions of cut ends relative to an image, and cut positions relative to an image are automatically decided, which causes a problem of making it difficult to obtain a sheet stack of which cut positions are arranged to be those desired by a user.
[Patent Document 1] TOKKAI No. 2004-221687
[Patent Document 2] TOKKAI No. 2002-211071
With a known image forming device that employs a method using one side or two sides themselves of a sheet as reference sides in recording, it is not possible to easily designate the directions of ends to be cut and ends not to be cut, and it is also difficult to adjust the image position relative to the cut mark position on the sheet.